This story also comes from Wisconsin – Deer Park to be exact. It also involves Geshe Donyo. In a deity yoga retreat, usually the goal is to accumulate a certain amount of mantras. These retreats are not for anyone – one must have received authentic teachings, transmissions and instructions from an authentic teacher (typically a Tibetan Lama in this case).

So in one retreat, where the goal was to accumulate a million mantras as a group, one woman was brave enough to ask what was truly bugging her. She asked Geshe la, “Rinpoche, I love this particular practice, but my days are so busy. I have to care for my family and then go to work. I don’t normally have this kind of time, can I cut some of the practice off?”

Geshe la responded, “Sure you can cut some of it off. What part do you want to take out?”

She continued, “Oh marvelous… let’s see here… what if I don’t do the blessing mantras and the Vajrasattvas to begin with?”

Geshe la: “Well, if you cut out those mantras, then you will not completely purify your gross or subtle karmas.”

Questioner: “Oh… then how about cutting out the long lineage prayer? There is the short version of that.”

Geshe la: “Sure, if you don’t want the blessings of the lineage masters, you can cut that out.”

Questioner: “Uhhh… The torma takes some time to make. Do we have to do that practice?”

Geshe la: “Well the torma offering is apart of how we accumulate the siddhis. So if you don’t want, then you can cut that out.” [Siddhis are supernatural abilities which authentic practitioners eventually begin to gain access to as they progress on the path. But they are not the goal of the practice.]

By this point, the lady felt a little ashamed and stopped asking what else she could shorten the practices with. My yogi friend said, and I happen to agree on this point, that the practices have been passed down from truly magnificent spiritual masters, and they weeded out any unnecessary or trivial sections, leaving us with the juicy bits we need to gain authentic progress. So when doing practice – do the practice.

[Not that I am a good example of this. The lazy practitioner who authored this post is busy typing away on this blog instead of sitting on his cushion.]

This particular story is about Geshe Donyo, who was teaching at Deer Park, near Madison Wisconsin. One day, Geshe la was teaching a full six hours on all the levels of vows – inner, outer, secret, the Pratimoksha, the root downfalls, the minor downfalls, etc. The only text this Geshe had in front of him, which he never turned a page of, was a very thin pecha (Tibetan scripture). Therefore a woman was curious about it.

At the end of the teaching, she asked Geshe la, “what text are you teaching from? Because you have been speaking today about dozens of topics and yet that text in front of you is so thin! Can you tell me which text it is?”

Geshe la looked down at the text in front of him. He picked it up, slowly analyzing it. Then he smiled at her, “Oh! This is a tantra (meaning it contained nothing of which he had been teaching). I feel it is auspicious to have a text in front of you when you teach the Dharma, so therefore, this morning, I just grabbed it off the top of the stack when I was coming to teach.” This meant that he had everything memorized from that six hour teaching and that the thin little text was just a spiritual support.

The yogi I spoke with believed that Geshes like Geshe Donyo may have tens of thousands of pages memorized… Wow! Actually, Geshe Donyo went on to become the Abbott of Sera Je monastery, and then Abbott of one of the Tantric Colleges at the Monastery (a highly respected, intellectually demanding post).

This poem arose as I was driving down to North Carolina to see friends old and new, and to attend a full weekend of Dharma teachings. I’d say it reflects my yearning to have someone special to share my life with. I’m not in a huge rush though, as the traits I am seeking in her are more important than settling for anything less.

Our eyes meet, briefly, curiosity beckons
You look away first,
Merely dipping your toe was enough
We pick up the next sheet
Me longing to connect, you, content
This is life at its finest
A tiny tug, a little shake
And the wrinkles come free
Folding, we draw closer, again
Our fingers momentarily brush; a spark dances up my spine
Did you feel it? Do I ask too much?
Maybe we will come together,
Two threads in a complex quilted pattern,
The wrinkles continue, constantly yearning for liberation

First, to get some vocabulary out of the way, as it would be good to be on the same page… Chiron is a physical astronomical body. It orbits between Saturn and Uranus, with a very eccentric orbit – sometimes straying closer to Saturn and other times veering off toward Uranus. Chiron is a large asteroid or a comet that got trapped by the Sun’s gravity (and therefore lost its tail). Chiron’s orbit is also eccentric, like Pluto’s, in that the plane of its orbit is significantly different from the plane of the rest of the inner planets (at its most extreme positions, Chiron can be more than 15 degrees above or below the typical declinations of the majority of the planets).

According to myth, Chiron was a centaur chieftan who was an excellent warrior. In some legends, Chiron did very well fighting for Zeus, securing victories for the King of the Gods. In return, Zeus (Jupiter) granted Chiron immortality. As a result, Chiron eventually tired of seeing his friends slowing aging and then passing away and he went to live in a cave. He was not a complete hermit however as he studied extensively the healing arts, astrology, poetry, literature, philosophy and he became very skilled in teaching others the chivalrous art of war. Hence Chiron is credited with training many of the famous Greek heroes including Asclepius (who would go on to become the God of Medicine and Healing), Achilles, Hercules and others. Chiron is known as the Wounded Healer however due to the myth that in a later war, when he was immortal, he was shot in the leg with an arrow that had the Hydra’s venom on it, meaning this poison had no known antidote. As a result of his immortality, he could not die, so he was in tortured anguish and pain and eventually he was forced to ask Zeus to revoke his immortality meaning he was doomed to die from the venom. Therefore there are many metaphors to draw from when interpreting Chiron’s influence in someone’s Natal Chart.

Because Chiron is such a small astronomical body (a large asteroid is nothing when compared to Jupiter or Saturn), we use very small orbs when determining if Chiron makes any aspects in the Natal (Birth) Chart. Personally I use the 3 degree orb rule for Chiron and there are no exceptions (sometimes people make the Sun and Moon’s orbs larger but not here). Therefore, it is rare for Astrology Charts to have many (more than 2 or 3) major aspects involving Chiron. I think of the major aspects as the Conjunction, Opposition, Square, Trine and sometimes the Sextile although that is a touch flaky in this case. The inconjunct (quincunx) aspect needs to practically be exact for it to apply with Chiron in my experience – maybe a one or two degree orb is allowed.

I apologize ahead of time for talking about myself, however I feel a strong connection with Chiron and therefore I feel a personal anecdote or two will shed light on this subject. And I’m a Leo Rising so I am working on overcoming some innate pride and / or arrogance

With that said, I personally have Chiron conjunct my MidHeaven from the 9th house, square my Ascendant and trine my Saturn. Not many aspects, but I feel that Chiron is definitely involved in my public / professional life as it conjuncts my MidHeaven. In my limited experience of working with possibly three to four hundred charts professionally, it is very rare to encounter people with more than four major Chiron aspects in their Natal Charts. I also have experience of having practiced Tibetan Buddhism in a dedicated capacity for several years now, and as a result, I have seen the charts of numerous other sincere practitioners.

Despite the fact that I mention Buddhism below, I think that you could easily substitute any authentic religion which leads to more openness, heart awareness and the betterment of its practitioners (so Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc etc). So in my limited experience, I have witnessed many occasions where major Chiron transits (when Transiting Chiron moves into a major aspect with a personal Natal planet or when an outer transiting planet moves into a major aspect with Natal Chiron) lead to spiritual unfolding or decisions to deepen one’s Buddhist practice. Here are some examples:

One friend of mine has Chiron squaring the Nodes of his Moon natally. He does not have much else going on with Chiron, but in this case, this is enough So what happened when transiting Pluto came in the same position as his Natal Chiron? Well he had always been into studying and practicing Buddhism, but he decided at that point in time to become a Buddhist monk. Talk about a serious change!!! That required a significant reorientation of all of his friends and family members, but he is committed and he has made it work.

This was also the case with another friend who had Chiron square his Sun, trine his Moon and opposite his Jupiter. When Pluto moved to square his Chiron, Jupiter and conjunct his Sun, he took refuge with a well-known Tibetan lama. Taking refuge means to become a Buddhist in one’s mind and actions – see previous posts for more on this subject. But there are several commitments involved, so it should not be taken lightly. Then, about nine years later, when Uranus moved to conjunct his Chiron (squaring his Sun, opposing his Jupiter, trining his Moon), he also decided to become a (Western) Tibetan Buddhist monk. I believe this was also the time of his Chiron return – which occurs around age 50 or 51. For people with many Chiron aspects, if we put in the work, often the Chiron return is a significant time of spiritual realizations or deepening of awareness.

One of my lay-person practitioner friends and I always look to see what Chiron, in our charts personally and in the transiting sky (universally), is doing whenever we are about to attend a major teaching or ceremony with a high Tibetan lama (with whom it is very rare and precious to meet). It is typically fascinating how many aspects Chiron itself (or planets to Chiron) is making at these times. For instance, when I attended the Dalai Lama for a major ten-day teaching in Washington D.C., transiting Jupiter was conjunct Natal Chiron (a once-in-twelve-years occurence) and transiting Pluto was trine my Chiron (a once-in-a-lifetime-as-a-functioning-adult occurence).

I am not saying Chiron is limited to Buddhism. I am not saying that when you have a major Chiron transit that you will become a monk or nun (because I sure won’t!). Rather, the key is to know that we have inner-personal-growth work to do (emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, etc), to accept and acknowledge our many faults and afflictions, to gain right understanding about these afflictions (not feeling ashamed or guilty merely because we were born for instance), and then to get on with healing our minds and bodies and moving towards an understanding of universal loving-kindness. This is what Chiron speaks to in individuals who are willing to listen. And as I mention above, I believe that individuals with 3 or more major Chiron aspects have an innate attunement to Chiron and it’s many manifestations of dynamic healing energy.

Please do not fret however, if you are reading this, it means that you are seeking and searching, and these traits are also revealed in the chart with Jupiter, Pluto, Uranus and the 8th / 9th houses. Therefore we do not have to have a highly-geared Chiron to have spiritual realizations. Rather it depends on our intention, our motivation and our dedication as to how much we discover in this lifetime.

Kirby Moore is a healing facilitator who utilizes Spiritual Astrology, Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation and Process-Oriented Bodywork in his private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. He also does phone sessions with individuals in addition to teaching occasional classes and workshops.

Urban Dharma seems to be a multi-denominational Buddhist center. What I mean is that it is not associated with a specific lineage exclusively. I have a feeling there will be a number of Drikung Kagyu teachers coming to give blessings and Dharma talks, but the center welcomes Buddhists of all flavors. The primary Buddha statue on the shrine is of Amitabha (Shakyamuni) – not exactly Tibetan Buddhist – however there are a number of Tibetan Buddhism statues on the sides of the shrine, along with several Tibetan Thangkas – large, ornate scroll paintings scattered throughout the temple space. Therefore I got the feeling it was a Mahayana center which was flavored with the strong essences of the Tibetan tradition.

The shrine is just gorgeous. It was designed around the large (maybe three or four foot tall) stone statue of Amitabha. The shrine was built on site and the polished wooden stump which Maitreya Buddha stands on is just incredible. They said that the wood was so beautiful that they did not want to cut it to fit the shrine – instead they put a hole in the bottom of the shrine to accommodate the polished wooden stump! See the picture below to see how the wood goes through the top layer of the shrine.

Urban Dharma is well situated in Downtown Asheville. It is right across the street from the Grove Arcade – a fancy building which houses an indoor mall of sorts. Therefore the Center may receive many people who just happen to walk by and see that there is a Buddhist temple to visit. And if you have not visited, it is well worth it!

When you walk into Urban Dharma, you will find yourself in the Gallery – a shop where they sell various Buddhist ritual items, statues and artwork. The proceeds go to supporting the various Buddhist events at the center. Then behind the Gallery is the temple space. At present, there is a Buddhist shrine with multiple statues on it – the large stone statue being Amitabha, then there is a stupa, a section for Dharma texts as well as statues of Chenrezig and Manjushri. Thangkas of the Medicine Buddha mandala and Shakyamuni Buddha round out the main shrine. At present there is also a Protector Shrine dedicated to Achi Chokyi Drolma – one of the Drikung Kagyu Protector Deities. Buddhist Dharma protectors are wisdom beings who swore to protect the teachings and to offer guidance and protection to sincere practitioners. There are plans to put in two shrines, one on each of the side walls.

Primary Shrine at Urban Dharma, NC

In the back room is a small kitchen area where we had the food for the potluck. And then upstairs is a conference room that was transformed into a storeroom where they conduct the activities of Tibetan Spirit (tibetanspirit.com) such as selling, packing and shipping Buddhist ritual items, statues and Thangkas. Very cool. These proceeds also go to support the Dharma Center’s activities (and overhead).

There were many young people at both Saturday’s and Sunday’s teachings, which I was very happy to see. It seems like a great community, and it will only get stronger as they plan to fill statues together and have more events of a community nature, versus just doing Buddhist events. For instance, this Wednesday they plan to have a dynamic music venue, which they are calling a friend-raising event (not fundraising). Neat!!

I plan to head back to Urban Dharma in March and / or April when they have well-known teachers coming such as Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen and Garchen Rinpoche.

Picking up Khenpo from the Charlotte Airport, I drive with him to Black Mountain just outside of A’ville. In the car, Khenpo tells me stories of Drikung Khandros (women dakinis or extraordinary Buddhist practitioners) in Tibet who helped with the rebuilding of nunneries which had been destroyed by the Chinese Cultural Revolution. We chat a little about the Vajrayogini Mandala which is supposedly surrounding the Drikung Thil monastery in Tibet (China). Khenpo is presently the resident teacher of the Pittsburgh Ratnashri Sangha, so I ask him about that center and city. Khenpo reminds me that it is good to slow down as he requests we stop for coffee and a relaxing pit stop at a Dunkin Donuts. I’m not sure the North Carolinians knew what to do with a Buddhist monk – one guy kept asking him why he wasn’t wearing sandals? But everyone was very nice to our teacher.

On Saturday we received Phowa teachings from Khenpo at the Urban Dharma Center. See my next post for more about Urban Dharma. We had a crowd of about 25 as this teaching was pretty much invitation only, but it was still a great day. We had a pot luck dinner on Saturday night. Then Khenpo made tormas (ritual offering cakes) for Sunday’s activities. While he was making tormas, I got a car-tour of downtown Asheville as I would be driving Khenpo the following morning – early – and they did not want us getting lost. At least not more lost than I already was.

I was Khenpo’s unqualified attendant of sorts. I settled into this role with ease however as it was my intention to come down to NC to rest – I already volunteer with two other centers, so I did not want to start the trend of burning myself out at a third one! On Saturday, all that meant was making sure Khenpo’s hot water was always full and hot, and then making certain everyone knew that he was a vegetarian for the dinner. On Sunday though, it was fun to attend the Khenpo as he did a self-empowerment.

Sunday was an empowerment of Amitayus – the Buddha of longevity. When Lamas give empowerments, they must first generate the deity in themselves in a pre-ritual. Therefore we got to UD early on Sunday and finished the preparations – with a long life empowerment there are actually quite a few miscellaneous things required: long life pills (small dough balls which are colored red), long life vase, a long life banner (an arrow wrapped in colorful ribbons) and more. There is symbolism to all these ritual items but it would be best to let an expert speak about it! I was happy though to sit near Khenpo as he went through the preparations. See the picture below for a close up of the Long Life Pills and the Long Life Vase.

Then empowerment (blessing ceremony of sorts) went well. This was the official public opening of Urban Dharma and apparently many people found out about the teachings. And who would not want a long life empowerment, seriously? You mean I can just sit there, do some visualizations, receive a long life pill and then I receive blessings that can possibly extinguish obstacles to a long life? Count me in! Actually it is a bit more complicated than that – all empowerments have what are called samayas – or commitments – which we agree to abide by with receiving the empowerment and sure enough, there were some samayas with this one as well. Samayas are secret though – ask a qualified Lama about them if you are truly interested.

After the empowerment we went out to eat lunch and then I hopped on the (wrong) road to head back home. More on that in the next post.

Last night, I had quality conversations over chrysanthemum infusions. Plus I got to see many goodies which are just back from Nepal, which will be for sale in the Urban Dharma store – go to Tibetanspirit.com for more about purchasing Buddhist ritual items. This included a moderate sized stupa which needs to be filled, several statues for the center itself (not for sale) and I heard about many relics which were given for the sake of filling the multiple statues and stupas.

Urban Dharma shrine in Asheville North Carolina

Most importantly, at least for my good-sized self-clinging ego, is that I have four days off from work, meaning my feet and legs can get some needed rest before I dive back in next week. I will take pictures when I get to the Center tomorrow and post them when I get back to C’ville next week. Yay!

much easier to rest down…
fullness within, warmth, heart connection with self and other still chilly but much improved…
holding space for a rebirthing process…
long blue wire frame slinky-like tube…
ooph! how much longer can I hold present for this process?
Wow glad for background in this work, because it ain’t easy!
Zapchen exercises – more advanced, mutuality, presence touching presence…
they say that less than 15% of americans practice this level of subtle awareness… really? when?
Warm delicious dinner with spiritual friends, sitting in front of a fire…
nothing like it!
I leave the retreat space feeling like I have just done some hot yoga or been hung over a warm fire for a time!

After having worked like my life desperately depended on it for the past five weeks or so, I finally had an afternoon to rest down among supportive Dharma-practitioner friends (spiritual friends) in one of the most potent and juicy environments – at an annual winter retreat.

I have been feeling burnt out (already) at work and needing a break, so this breather was so very refreshing. I wrote down a little about the shift from “computer-game-mind” to returning to a community with heart.

Settling down.
a few minutes pass…
noticing a baseline of anxiety and a rapid heart beat – is this usual? ugh I hope not!

luckily I arrived for the afternoon Zapchen session (see below about Zapchen), and of course my friends, having had three days under their belts, were diving in deep. Today is advanced techniques, which thankfully I have already done in numerous previous retreats. However, my body was in curiously rough shape…

But it only took an hour.

With yawning, sighing, resting down, I began to notice how tight certain parts of my body were – shoulders, lungs, pericardium and surrounding heart areas and once I became very aware of subtleties, I noticed that even the lining around my brain was contracted and it did not have any ideas about when it would be letting up…

the icy grip of computer-game-mind was showing its effects. With time, and with juicy guidance from a qualified Zapchen teacher, I began to allow the sunny potency of trust and self-love to penetrate the tight regions between and within cranial bones…

at first I thought it might take days or weeks to unlock the many frozen layers of fascia and dura mater within cranium, chest, but with awareness, and being gentle yet firm, I found myself being able to smile with slightly more ease…

Wow! Then the comment, “Make little kissy movements around the top of your crown…” I did not know how to do that. Followed by the awesome comment: “the juiciest moment is when you notice that your brain notices that it’s just been kissed!” Whoa… I could chew on that exercise and resulting subtle awareness for a long time!

So, with humming, with awareness and with breath and sound, I repair and re-member numerous layers of tissue today…

First I recollected all my scattered bits and pieces, then I set a clear potent intention, and then I rested in alignment once I got there…
“Gee! That’s different! And at this point, different is very good!”

So now, when I notice contraction setting in. Which direction will I choose? I need to make a daily, system-wide announcement that all the various (different aged) parts of myself are loved! Good good.

Happy New Year All! May all beings know a happy and healthy New Year, free from suffering and dissatisfaction and its causes.

Zapchen Somatics are a system of simple, potent exercises, techniques and games which lead human beings to rest down into their bodies, to be in alignment with ease and to be more self-loving and playful. All to the good really. Zapchen was created by Julie Henderson, Ph.D.

Come Play With Me, it said.

NO!! I’m afraid… I cried.

Yes, I Understand, It’s Okay To Come Closer, it replied.

NO! I don’t want to get hurt again! Go away!

Look Down… You Will Find That Your Next Step Is But a Tiny Hop Down, it cajoled.

NO! I’m afraid of heights! Are you crazy?!

I Am a Pool, a Well, a Lake. I Am Here And You Have Only To Drink, it suggested enigmatically.

What?! There’s no telling who has been swimming in there prior to this, No Way!

Good… You Are Starting To Turn Your Mind Toward IT, now it was really confusing me.

What?!?! What ever do you mean? I like where I was at…

Yes, Just Relax, Let Go, Allow the Breath of Life to Flow Effortlessly, it whispered, closer now.

But I’m comfortable with my suffering! I know it, it’s familiar! I’m scared of change…

You Are Simply Delaying the Inevitable, it uttered.

What?! I want out! I did not sign up for this!

Good… Do You Realize That You Have Been Creeping Ever Closer to ME this Whole Time? It questioned.

What?! OH NO! I don’t want this! I’m afraid… Fuck off… please!

Just Breathe… Come Join Me… Rest in Ease and Bliss, it suggested.

Oh… Why… This change is easier… But I still don’t know! I’m skeptical!

Be Gentle… Yet Firm… As You Step Forward Into the Light, it was enigmatic yet again.

But I’ve always stay on the fringes…

Yes… Stayed. A statement this time.

Oh… wait… this change is… just right.

You Are the Juice of Transformation… Allow IT… Know IT… Be IT. It spoke for the last time.

AAAaaahhhhhh…

This was written by M. Kirby Moore on 12/12/11. Some of the ideas come from Julie Henderson’s interpretation of the I Ching, otherwise this material is copyrighted by Kirby Moore. Please do not reproduce it without permission. Thanks for visiting!